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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25523566">Bragging Rights</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/textbookchoices/pseuds/textbookchoices'>textbookchoices</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Carrying, Comfort Food, Crying, Established Relationship, Found Family, Gen, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Canon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 08:33:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,032</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25523566</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/textbookchoices/pseuds/textbookchoices</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter barely manages to put on the suit before he's swinging across Manhattan. He's not sure how it happened, but Morgan's school called him, practically desperate because they couldn't get a hold of any of his other emergency contacts--Pepper, Tony, Happy, Rhodey, then Peter. That's how it goes, that's the order, and it shouldn't even be able to get to Peter. Peter is a last resort. </p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Peter Parker &amp; Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker/Tony Stark (Background)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>384</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Battleship 2020, Battleship 2020 - Red Team</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Bragging Rights</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/intoxicatelou/gifts">intoxicatelou</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Peter barely manages to put on the suit before he's swinging across Manhattan. He's not sure how it happened, but Morgan's school called him, practically desperate because they couldn't get a hold of any of his other emergency contacts--Pepper, Tony, Happy, Rhodey, <em>then Peter</em>. That's how it goes, that's the order, and it shouldn't even be able to get to Peter. Peter is a last resort. </p><p>He guesses Pepper might be stuck in a meeting, and Tony might be in his own world in the lab, or maybe he's finally fallen asleep after a long night of working in the lab.</p><p>Rhodey isn't even in the states right now, Peter is pretty sure, and Happy could be... on a break? Or stuck in traffic with a phone that ran out of charge?</p><p>It's just <em>crazy</em> that none of them picked up when Morgan's school called. Peter knows for a fact that F.R.I.D.A.Y. is programmed to alert Tony, first priority, for anything related to Morgan and calls from her school have to be at the top of that list. He must be in black out mode or sleeping with the idea that one of the others is on Morgan duty, but still. Four people didn't pick up in order for the school to call Peter instead.</p><p>He swings around the last building before landing in the alley two blocks away from Morgan's school. He takes off the mask and suit and shoves it into his backpack before he takes off running for her school. </p><p>He slides into the hall after thirty seconds, his sneakers squeaking on the floors, which gives him an unfortunate flashback to middle and high school.</p><p>There she is, sitting on a chair in the office, curled up and hugging her legs, fresh tear tracks staining her cheeks. Peter stumbles in, ignoring the woman at the desk who starts to say something in order to instead drop to his knees in front of Morgan.</p><p>Morgan's eyes go wide when she sees him before, inexplicably, she bursts into loud sobs and wraps her arms around his neck so tightly that he has to cough before standing up, wrapping his arms around her to hold her and keep her from falling from where she's clinging to him.</p><p>She's six now, almost too big to be carried, but Peter can use his super strength for whatever he wants anyway. </p><p>"Excuse me!" the secretary says again, loudly. "Who are you?"</p><p>"Sorry," he says, over the sound of Morgan's crying. "Peter Parker. You called me to pick up Morgan Stark. What happened?"</p><p>The woman looks taken aback, and she glances at the paperwork on her desk like she wants to double check the information. Peter flushes, just a little. It <em>is</em> weird that he's listed. His and Tony's relationship is... new, still, maybe, and the public doesn't know about it. He wonders if she'd be more or less concerned if he told her he's Morgan's dad's boyfriend.</p><p>Considering he looks every bit his college freshman age, probably more.</p><p>He sighs and runs a hand through Morgan's hair. Her hairline is sweaty and her face is red and swollen from crying. There's spit on her chin and her nose is runny from all the emotion she can't quite seem to handle.</p><p>"Morgan, sweetheart," he tries, because that's what Tony calls her when she gets like this, but she doesn't respond except to hold on tighter and cry harder.</p><p>He looks up at the secretary helplessly. </p><p>"What happened?"</p><p>"She got into a fight with one of the other students in her class. The furthest it went was some shoving; no one was physically hurt, but Morgan has been quite inconsolable all afternoon."</p><p>"Somebody shoved her?"</p><p>"The other student has received the required discipline and we've notified his parents. It really was a simple playground disagreement."</p><p>Peter frowns.</p><p>"Morgan," he says, "can you talk to me for a second?"</p><p>She shakes her head and then hides her face in his shoulder. He sighs. He'll just... take her home and tell Tony. This is dad stuff, right? Peter isn't her dad. He's not even her step-dad. He could be, one day. Maybe. But that's so far beyond what he can even mentally contemplate right now.</p><p>"Okay," he says. "Where do I sign her out?"</p><p>They get through the paperwork--more than Peter remembers May ever having to fill out for him, but then this is a prestigious academy for rich kids with their own bodyguards at the entrances. Which is good, because Morgan is six and she's already had an attempted kidnapping. (Foiled by one Uncle <em>Don't Touch My Niece</em> James Rhodes, and really, Peter doesn't know why someone would ever try to kidnap a kid, let alone try to kidnap her while <em>War Machine</em> was babysitting.)</p><p>She stops crying quite so hard when they finally get outside, her red, blue and gold <em>Wonder Woman</em>-themed backpack thrown over his shoulder. She sniffles as he climbs down the stone steps, bouncing her with every step.</p><p>She pulls back and glances at him when they reach the sidewalk.</p><p>"Can we--can we get ice cream?" she asks in-between still-hiccuping sobs.</p><p>Peter vaguely thinks her parents would say no. Should he say no? </p><p>He hesitates and then says, "Maybe. If you tell me what happened at school today."</p><p>There's probably a rule against bribery. Oops.</p><p>She deliberates, her head resting against his shoulder as he walks towards the nearest subway entrance. No swinging between buildings with Morgan allowed, much to her eternal disappointment. She has to be at least eight and hooked into a harness with no exceptions except super-villainy. Tony isn't even allowed to take her for flights in the suit, Pepper's rules, and nobody wants to fight Pepper.</p><p>"Eric shoved me," she says, finally. "And he called me dumb."</p><p>Peter frowns and looks at her with a face that's just a tad over-exaggerated. "Uh, he what now? You're the smartest kid in your class!"</p><p>She sniffles. "I <em>know</em>, but he won't believe me. And he pushed me."</p><p>Peter pauses.</p><p>"What were you saying before he called you dumb?"</p><p>"I told him he said parallelogram <em>wrong</em> and he didn't even know what it means! And he told me he didn't say it wrong at all and I told him he did and I'm smarter than everyone else so I <em>know</em> I'm right and he pushed me and said I'm dumb and I'm not dumb!" Before Peter can say anything to that, she adds, her voice threateningly wobbly, "And nobody ever wants to play with me!"</p><p>"Ah," Peter acknowledges. He pushes through the subway crowd and headed for the train they'll need to get on to get back to Stark Tower. She sniffles into his shirt, and he can feel the wetness from her face starting to soak through the fabric. Well, he's had worse.</p><p>"So, here's the thing I think is happening," he says, slowly, once they've gotten on the train and it's started moving. It's late and early enough that it's not super packed, and they manage to find a seat where they can both sit without Morgan being on his lap. </p><p>"Morgan, have you heard of the word boasting? Or, uh, bragging?"</p><p>"I know about bragging!" she declares, excited. "It means when you talk a lot about something you're good at. Daddy does it a lot. So does Mommy. And Uncle Rhodey."</p><p>"Uh, yeah. Exactly. But sometimes, when you talk a lot about something you're good at, it sounds like you're telling other people they're not good at it, and their feelings get hurt."</p><p>Morgan blinks at him.</p><p>Peter scratches his ear. "So, let's say I talk to you about how good at drawing I am."</p><p>"You're good at drawing!"</p><p>"Thanks," he grins. It's not exactly true, but hey, she's six. He'll take the compliment. "But lets say I talk about it all the time. And when <em>you</em> draw, instead of telling you what you did good, I just say that I can draw better. And I tell you all the things you messed up on. That's not very nice, is it?"</p><p>Morgan makes a face and asks, "No. Was I being mean to Eric by telling him he said parallelogram wrong? But he did! He said it wrong! He said it pare-lil-og-ruhm."</p><p>"You're right, that is definitely the wrong pronunciation. But maybe next time, ask him if he wants help, and if he doesn't, leave it to your teacher. Try not to tell everyone you're smarter than them."</p><p>She sighs heavily, as melodramatic as possible, and kicks out her feet.</p><p>"But I <em>am</em> smarter than them. Daddy says so. He says I'm the smartest in my entire school!"</p><p>Peter snorts. Tony would say that.</p><p>"Everyone knows you're smart, Morgan. But..." How do you tell a six-year-old not to rub it in the other kids faces? He winces. "Try not to tell everyone you're smarter than them. You'll start to make people feel like you don't like them or that you think <em>they're</em> dumb."</p><p>"I don't think anyone is dumb! Dumb is a mean word."</p><p>Peter can practically hear Pepper in the way Morgan talks sometimes. He smiles.</p><p>"So don't tell them you're smarter than them. Offer to help, and--hey, you know a good idea to make friends?"</p><p>Her eyes go wide. "What?"</p><p>"Ask <em>them</em> for help."</p><p>She frowns. "But I don't need help."</p><p>"Not with math or reading, sure, but maybe you could ask for... other stuff. What color should you paint with? What book should you read next? Or find something they did that you like and ask them how they did it. Try," he pokes her in the stomach, "not to talk about yourself all the time." She laughs and pushes his hand away.</p><p>Peter went through all of this when he was young too. At least until he met Ned. He's pretty sure in a vague sort of way that Flash might have been such a bully because he thought Peter thought he was smarter than him, not that Peter thinks he did anything to make Flash think that, but... hindsight.</p><p>Morgan taps her finger on her chin in a mimicry of someone who's thinking hard. </p><p>"Okay," she says, finally. "Rose makes really pretty clouds in art class. I'll ask her how she colors them! And Elsie can jump rope a lot, like so much that I get dizzy watching a little bit. Maybe I can ask her how she does that." </p><p>"Good ideas."</p><p>He's glad it doesn't seem to occur to her to ask what she should do if they don't want to tell her. Peter's not entirely sure how to answer. His solution--take the punch and hope Aunt May doesn't notice--isn't going to work. Maybe Tony will have a better idea.</p><p>The train comes to their stop and they jump off with several other people, Morgan's hand held tight in Peter's to make sure she doesn't get lost in the crowd. Out on the street, he looks down and says, "Ice cream first?"</p><p>"Yes!"</p><p>There's an ice cream shop across from the tower and down about a block.</p><p>Half-way through his strawberry cone, and when Morgan has sherbet all over her nose, Peter's phone starts ringing. The caller I.D. says <em>Pepper Potts</em>.</p><p>He answers, "Hey, I've got her."</p><p>"Thank you. The school called when I was in a meeting. Happy's phone died and Tony is under orders to get some sleep after he pulled an all-nighter to get this latest tech update done in time. Is she okay?"</p><p>He looks at her. She's struggling to lick the melting ice cream off her waffle cone.</p><p>"Yeah. We're across from the tower. We, uh, stopped to get ice cream."</p><p>Pepper sighs. "Bring her up when you're ready, will you? I'll take her."</p><p>"It's okay," Peter says. "You can finish working. I'll just take her up to Tony's floor. We'll watch a movie or something."</p><p>"You don't mind?"</p><p>Peter grins when Morgan reaches for the napkin dispenser, finally seeming to realize she's losing the battle of melting ice cream vs. well, herself.</p><p>"Yeah, we're good."</p>
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